Two Kids, 17 Adults Wounded in New Orleans Parade Shooting

Joseph Devenney/Getty Images(NEW ORLEANS) — New Orleans police are looking for three suspects after someone opened fire at a Mother’s Day parade, wounding as many as 19 people, including a 10-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl.

The shooting occurred at approximately 1:47 p.m., during a Second Line Parade, according to the New Orleans Police Department.

In addition to the two children, 10 men and seven women were wounded in the shooting, police said.

The two 10-year-olds had graze wounds to the body and were in good condition, police said. A man and a woman were in surgery Sunday evening as a result of their wounds.

Many of the victims were grazed, and no one was killed. Most of the wounds were not life-threatening, police said.

The Original Big 7 Second Line parade started at around 1 p.m. with a full contingent of police officers. When the end of the parade reached North Villere and Frenchmen Street at about 1:47 p.m., shots were fired with different guns.

“It appears that these two or three people just for a reason unknown to us started shooting at towards or in the crowd,” Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas said. “It was over in just a couple seconds.”

Three suspects were seen running from the scene after the shooting, police said.

One suspect was described as an African-American male approximately 18 to 22 years old, wearing a white T-shirt and blue jean shorts.

At a news conference outside one of the hospitals where victims were taken, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu asked the public for help finding the shooters.

“These kinds of incidents will not go unanswered. Somebody knows something,” he said. “The way to stop this violence is for you all to help.”

Though police said they were not sure whether certain individuals were targeted or whether it was a random shooting, they expressed confidence the suspects would be caught.